While she has obviously been very successful, Miley says the road to fame took a long time. Before landing the role of Hannah Montana, Miley went through her fair share of rejection. She says she's even shed a tear or two when she didn't get a part. "I started getting to the point where [I thought] maybe this isn't what I was supposed to do," she says.

Billy Ray says he told his daughter to just enjoy being a kid—but Miley had other plans. "She would study from the greatest coaches that she could find. She worked very diligently at it, and she would go to auditions and she would come home and her little heart would be broken. I'd say, 'See, I told you. You don't need this business. This business has a whole lot more pain than there are happy moments,'" Billy Ray says. "[But] for Miley there was no other alternative. She was going to be a great actress, a great singer-songwriter, and she wasn't going to take no for an answer."

To help her learn through her struggles, Billy Ray gave Miley an important piece of advice. "Every time that you fail, you eliminate one way that won't work. Therefore, you're one step closer to the one that will," he says.

Miley's perseverance finally paid off when she landed the part of Hannah Montana. "You have to keep believing in yourself," she says.